Aligning floor and wall grout lines

[Haggis61]

Hi all. I have a rectangular travatine tile that I want to use on my wall and floor (305 x 458).
I intend to use a brick bond pattern on wall and floor. On the long wall, there will be no problem, aligning the grout joints, as the wall tile and floor tile will both run be in the same direction, I.e. Landscape.
However on the short wall at the top of the room, the floor tile will be portrait direction meeting landscape direction.
This is where the problem lies as the grout joints on wall and floor begin to run out from each other.
When dry laid tightly together, two laid landscape tiles, is the same as three in portrait. But when you add in the grout spaces, there are two joints between the three portrait tiles, and only one between the two landscape tiles. This throws the portrait tiles further and further out with each row (8mm to 4mm)
Increasing the thickness of the grout joint on the landscape wall tiles isn't an option as it would be too thick, I.e 8mm.
A possible solution I am considering is cutting 4mm off the length of every alternate row on the floor? Not sure that is the best solution though!
I hope I've managed to explain the problem, and that someone has come across this and has good idea/tip.
Thanks

 

[AdamCH]

I make it that:

- 3 floor portraits @ 305mm + 2 x 2mm grout joints = 919mm
- 2 wall landscapes @ 458 + 1 x 2mm grout joint = 918mm

The portrait wall should be the shortest wall. Is the wall long enough to make the 1mm show if you start your perfectly aligned tile in the middle? (you can go 918mm in each direction before you get to the next alignment.

Or are there any features like baths that will prevent the vertical lines dropping to the floor? ( you wont spot a mm a foot off the ground).

You could trim a 1mm off every third row of floor tiles but might not be necessary.

 

[Haggis61]

Hi adamch, thanks for the reply.

My grout spacers are 4mm each. I think going with 2mm would be too thin for the size of the tile and would be too thin to ensure that the grout is fully packed between the tiles to seal them (it's a wetroom). So that's what throws it out by 2mm on either side of the three rows of portrait tiles, and then by 4mm on the next rows, and that is noticeable.

Make sense?

 

[AdamCH]

I think 3mm is British std for minimum grout lines on the floor & 2mm for the walls. 4mm might look okay on the floor (as long as the grout isn't contrasting) but I'd have thought it would look a bit wide on the walls.

If you use mosaics on the wet room floor then they would be 2mm spaced so I don't see why you couldn't use 2mm with larger tiles - just make sure you grout carefully and that you've laid a waterproofing decoupling mat (Ditra/Durabase).